


and then there was babysitter mark

by chaehyungwonies



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 13:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16198271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaehyungwonies/pseuds/chaehyungwonies
Summary: sicheng brings the group back together with a suggestion. “mark, since being a soundcloud rapper doesn’t rake in the cash and i'd like to keep seeing you attempt to drunkly drag johnny into a headlock after he embarrasses you in front of your weekly crush, why don’t you get a job babysitting? you're good with kids.”[ in which mark gets a job as a babysitter and finds himself part of a family he never expected to join ]





	and then there was babysitter mark

**Author's Note:**

> this was brought on by a prompt given to / partially filled out by ao3 user galaxyjun. i took it and ran with it because who doesn't love babysitter!mark and the trope of a kid falling for his babysitter
> 
> the only actual ship here is mark and yukhei, as tagged!! if u squint real hard tho mayb jungwin is there. also, it's entirely mark's pov but i may add a short epilogue later from chenle's pov as a separate chapter because i'm still not sure if i want to add it or not.

Mark supposes that at some point using ass slapping as a friendly greeting would get him in trouble one day. It’s Ten’s fault, truly, for starting the peculiar trend in the friend circle but Mark really should have been paying more attention to his surroundings, especially while in a crowd as big as the one at the end of summer festival. It is also Johnny’s fault—and yes, Mark will continue to pass blame to everyone else if only to keep the humiliation caused by slapping a stranger’s ass from the forefront of his mind. The shock on the stranger’s face when said stranger quickly turned around with a gasp will follow Mark to the grave. The horror that etched itself into Mark’s heart when he realized at first touch that the ass he had touched was _not_ Johnny’s will most definitely also be etched into his premature gravestone.

 

Johnny on the other hand seems to take great pleasure in Mark’s embarrassment, sharing the news with Jaehyun, Taeyong, Sicheng, and Doyoung as if Mark needs more people laughing at him for the incident. Doyoung at least has the grace to at first be apologetic in Mark’s favor before diving into jokes with the rest of the group.

 

“He said _bro_ and you squealed and _yeet’d_ away,” wheezes Johnny as he pats at Mark’s back with an unnecessary amount of force. Mark stands with a scowl drawn on his face, arms crossed as the others fall into peals of laughter.

 

“Glad to know my loss of dignity is humorous,” he mumbles, rolling his eyes only to choke on a gasp while in the midst of the action.

 

Taeyong notices Mark’s sudden stillness and speaks up. “Are you okay? We can stop teasing you for a few minutes if it’s still too fresh in your mind.”

 

“He’s over there, wearing a black bomber jacket and ripped skinny jeans. Curled brown hair, and big hands. I thought he was gonna slap me with them.” whispers Mark, leaning into Taeyong as if he could hide behind him. Johnny and Sicheng start looking around for the source of Mark’s current agony, Sicheng muttering a surprised _oh_ when spotting the stranger.

 

He turns to Mark with a sigh. “You mistook Yukhei for Johnny?”

 

“Who?”

 

“I think you need new glasses, Mark; they look nothing alike.”

 

“Wait, wait,” Mark shakes his hands to get Sicheng to pause. “You know that guy? Yuck-hey?”

 

“ _Yukhei_ ,” the Chinese man rolls his eyes but pleasantly nods after. “He’s my cousin Renjun’s friend. I think you met Renjun when we went to Guangdong for Christmas.”

 

“Ah yes,” Mark rubs at his chin. “The old one.”

 

Sicheng chuckles and Johnny speaks up. “What does Renjun have to do with Yukhei?”

 

“Renjun and Yukhei grew up together but Yukhei moved out to Seoul when his own cousin’s family moved out here. Since I’m out here, Renjun had somewhat asked me to check up on Yukhei and make sure he’s assimilating okay.”

 

Jaehyun bites at his bottom lip. “He’s _ass_ imilating alright,” 

 

Mark elbows Jaehyun in the gut for his silly pun and sighs heavily to direct the group’s attention to him. “I don’t know if I should apologize or just let the incident go.”

 

“I’d say you should let it go. No one is pressing charges and it was an honest accident.” Taeyong smiles and pats Mark’s back, which makes him smile.

 

“Well, _I’m_ not going to let it go,” starts Johnny with a wicked grin, “Mark being a dumbass is always entertaining to bring up during parties and this is the perfect story to never forget.”

 

Mark playfully sticks out his tongue. “The joke is on you, Johnny; since I went out to Canada earlier in the summer I’m now too broke to host or attend parties so you have no reason to tell anyone else since I’m not there for you to embarrass.”

 

“Who said you need to be there? It’s funnier when you’re not, like when I told Taeil and Ten about that time you snorted your coffee out your nose because some guy winked at you and you didn’t know how to react.”

 

“What the _fuck_ , Youngho?”

 

Mark and Johnny continue to bicker about pointless things until Sicheng brings the group back together with a suggestion. “Mark, since being a Soundcloud rapper doesn’t rake in the cash and I’d like to keep seeing you attempt to drunkly drag Johnny into a headlock after he embarrasses you in front of your weekly crush, why don’t you get a job babysitting? You’re good with kids.”

 

Doyoung snorts and Mark sends him the heaviest glare he can muster. “I am good with kids, the kids at the Christmas dinner loved me a lot.”

 

“Sure,” Sicheng grumbles, laughing as he dodges a punch from Mark. “But seriously, you are pretty playful and fun. I think I saw a posting online about a babysitting gig, anyway; something for the Zhong family.”

 

Mark pauses for a moment and nods with determination. “I’ll check it out.”

 

Sicheng sends him a link for more information and Mark really does apply for the job, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to at least try if nothing else.

 

“Guess who is no longer living a jobless life,” Mark cheers a month into school as he plops down at the lunch table with his friends.

 

Ten looks up with raised eyebrows and Sicheng reaches over the table to high-five Mark. “I knew you would get the job. The first two interviews went amazing, I don’t care what you originally said. When does your first shift start?”

 

“Shift? You make it sound like a 9-5 job.” the youngest of the table takes a bite from his noodles before answering. “I start tonight: from 5 until the folks get back home, whenever that is. I figured I can work on a couple tracks while the kids are asleep if Mr. and Mrs. Zhong get back late.”

 

“You know now that you’re a certified babysitter, you have to invite us over to help you lose your job.”

 

“I thought you wanted me to get money so I can make it to parties and you can spend more time humiliating me.”

 

Johnny nods. “Good point.”

 

Newly-minted babysitter Mark then spends the rest of his day until 5 anticipating a grand introduction to the kids, testing out ways to introduce himself to his roommate’s aggravation.

 

“Mark,” Donghyuck whines, “the kids aren’t going to care if you say _hi_ , _hello_ , or _let’s get it_ ; just please get out of here before you’re late for your first day.”

 

Mark is not late and the kids—Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung—are unfazed by his introduction, which makes Mark a little sad given he spent at least 20 minutes figuring out what to say.

 

Chenle seems to like Mark from the start though, a bit more engaged with Mark compared to the others when asked about their schooling.

 

“I’m in 6th grade.” Chenle says pointedly, eyes sparkling with some unknown excitement that makes Mark’s heart warm.

 

“I’m in 3rd grade.” Jisung proclaims proudly, defining himself as the youngest in the trio.

 

Jaemin—the eldest of the three—is silent at first, having the hardest time accepting that his parents are gone and not coming back for quite a few hours. That or he’s being a rebellious moody teenager who feels like he doesn’t need a babysitter and refuses to acknowledge Mark’s existence. He spends most of his time glaring at his feet and continues to glare at them as if they are the reason for his parents’ disappearance. Mark is somewhat grateful that the kid isn’t lashing out at him, but he also really wants Jaemin to talk with him. “It’s okay,” Chenle out when Jaemin still refuses to reply to Mark’s question, “I can tell you all about my school.”

 

Mark smiles and opens his mouth to ask Chenle to elaborate when there’s a loud slam from the back of the house and all the boys’ attentions spans dissolve into thin air. This wouldn’t worry Mark too much except for the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Zhong hadn’t mentioned anything about anyone else in the house. Jaemin jumps from the couch and sprints— _yeets_ as Johnny would say—down the hall toward the sound. Mark isn’t quite sure if that’s a good thing; this house is very expensive and seems like the perfect venue to rob. There’s an intense fright that surges through Mark as he realizes all the kids are running toward the mysterious sound.

 

Unwilling to let the kids he’s babysitting get stolen from a mini mansion, Mark grabs a textbook and runs after the boys. When he turns the corner, Jisung is halfway in the stranger’s arms while Chenle and Jaemin stand off to the side as if they are waiting for their turn. Mark’s limbs move faster than his brain and the book is already out of his hands before the stranger looks at him and—oh fuck, it’s _Yukhei_.

 

The only upside to the situation is that Jaemin starts talking. Granted, he’s going on about the scream Mark ripped out of Yukhei’s throat by chucking a book toward his face, but at least he’s talking to Mark. Yukhei on the other hand, refuses to look Mark in the eye no matter how many times Mark apologizes. He only takes the ice pack because he needs it and Jisung sits on his lap to press the ice pack to Yukhei’s face until his fingers go numb and then Mark heats them up under some warm water at the kitchen sink.

 

Mark follows Yukhei to the kitchen when the other man decides he’s had enough of the ice pack. “I’m really sorry, man,” he apologizes for the tenth time in the past five minutes, “I thought you were going to steal the kids.”

 

“I should say the same to you,” hisses Yukhei as he slams the freezer door shut. He spins on his heels to face Mark and his eyes are lit with anger and frustration. Mark feels smaller than usual under Yukhei’s sharp intense gaze. “I came over to visit my uncle while I’m in the area and find him and his wife _gone_ while I get attacked by a stranger in the process. Mind you, I’m attacked by the same guy who manhandled me a month ago with no apology.”

 

Chenle, who had followed them into the kitchen, leans against one of the counters and snorts to himself. “Do you not like Mark, Yukhei?”

 

Mark laughs and rubs at the back of his neck before turning to face Chenle fully. “It’s complicated but you don’t need to worry about it. Do you want to go back to the living room and show me that art project you were talking about?”

 

Chenle’s eyes light up and he hurriedly made his way back to the others, Mark watching him until he feels someone flick at his head and the action pulls him from his thoughts. Yukhei innocently smiles and makes his way over to the kids, calling out for Jaemin to stop moping. Mark sighs and presses his hands to his face, letting out a silent groan to regather his thoughts before he joins the others. Chenle sits next to him on the couch and eagerly shows off his painting, slipping into Chinese to ask Yukhei for help with describing the grass in his picture.

 

Hearing Yukhei speak Chinese reminds Mark that Yukhei is from China and is also Renjun’s friend and he wonders if he could maybe attempt at being friends by talking about Renjun. Though Mark has no idea how Renjun has talked about him to others, if at all, and would rather not be associated with whatever negative framing Renjun might have about him. Still, he feels he better try to be somewhat friends with Yukhei—the other man is related to the kids he’s babysitting and comes over often enough apparently so Mark is going to have to see him often if he keeps this job.

 

“Hey.” Mark starts when he follows Yukhei into the cooking kitchen to prepare dinner. (Apparently the other kitchen is for snacks and other kitchen things that don’t have to do with meal preparation.)

 

“What.”

 

When Yukhei closes the refrigerator door to make eye contact with Mark shortly after his remark, Mark feels his entire Korean and English vocabularies slip from his brain and leave him wordless. Yukhei’s eyes aren’t filled with shock or bright with anger, no; his eyes are a warm chocolate brown filled with genuine curiosity despite his gruff tone. It’s captivating for Mark—enchanting and titillating, too—and he can already hear Doyoung reprimanding him for panicking at eye contact but he can’t help himself.

 

An inhumane and inarticulate sound spews from between Mark’s lips and he covers his mouth immediately after when Yukhei raises his eyebrows and cocks his head with worry. “Are you okay? Maybe you should let me do this. I’m used to cooking for the kids; I know what they like.”

 

“Even more reason for me to stay,” Mark replies, his words coming back to him at the slight threat he hears in Yukhei’s suggestion. “You’re not going to be here every time I babysit so I need to know what they like and how to make it.”

 

“A good point.” Yukhei nods and looks off to the side before sighing. “I accept your apology by the way. Even if it’s late.”

 

Mark grins. “I’m glad. Maybe now we can get along? We can start with cooking together.”

 

Yukhei mumbles something under his breath but willingly allows Mark to join him with cooking. Chenle comes into the kitchen to sit at the counter and draw them working, excitedly showing Mark who praises him for the realistic depiction of Yukhei’s scowl while he works at the stove. Mark actually has a really fun time helping out with the food and helping the kids with their homework when they get restless.

 

Jisung even shows Mark a new dance move he learned in dance class, asking Mark to join in with him. The other two eventually join in given Yukhei isn’t doing anything to entertain them and by the time Yukhei has finished plating the food, Mark, Chenle, Jaemin, and Jisung are all dancing to and singing along with PSY’s _New Face_.

 

“ _Yes, I want some new face_ ,” Mark belts into his balled up fist, kneeling on the floor as he leans his head back to exaggerate his movements. Chenle is laughing and waving his hand in front of his face with Jisung as they continue with the song’s choreography. Mark falls onto his back to watch the other three continue on while he rests. He’s oddly content and happy watching these kids have fun even though he’s only known them for a few hours.

 

Yukhei has all the plates at the dining table a little ways down and yells across the house for the four to come and eat before the food gets cold. Jaemin talks a lot during dinner, excitedly telling off his day and even asking Mark for help with some Korean words he can’t remember when trying to describe his day. “It’s hard,” he says suddenly, staring at his bowl of mixed rice and vegetables, “trying to learn Korean again.”

 

“Are you adopted?”

 

Yukhei joins the conversation to explain the backstory. “My uncle wanted to move back to China to live with my family when Chenle was born. They only moved back to Seoul a couple years back so the Chinese language is really all they know, minus what school and my uncle has taught them.”

 

Mark nods with understanding. “That’s really cool that you’ve lived in China and Korea. I’m from Canada and I lived in America for a few years, too.”

 

“Really?” Chenle gasps, forgetting all about his food at the notion of Canadian Babysitter Mark Lee. “Do you speak Canadian then?”

 

Mark laughs. “I speak English, yes, but French is another common language.”

 

“What brought you to Korea?”

 

“My dad’s work,” the young man sighs in reply to Yukhei’s question as he pokes at his rice with the chopsticks in hand. “I’m ethnically Korean after all and he wanted to make sure I was in touch with my roots. I’m still here because of university now, though.”

 

“Oh, what school do you go to?”

 

Mark opens his mouth but then looks up from his food with confusion. “Why do you want to know?”

 

Yukhei raises his hands in defense. “I’m just curious; there’s lots of universities here so I just wanted to know which one you call yours.” He grabs his plate and stalks to the kitchen before coming back to stand behind Jaemin. “I’m taking my leave now. I won’t be over for a little while so I hope Mark is taking good care of you three in the meantime. Tell your parents I said hello.”

 

He ruffles each other boys’ hair and sends Mark a wave goodbye before leaving Mark to his babysitting duties. Mark cleans off the table and puts on some more PSY for the kids to dance to while he washes the dishes. Chenle keeps him company in the kitchen, explaining what his brothers are doing since Mark can’t look himself. It’s a calm end to a hectic start of Mark’s job, all the boys tuckered out by the time they need to get to bed. Chenle and Jisung request bedtime stories so Mark decides to talk about the time he went to China with Sicheng since he figures it would be a nice comfort for the boys to hear about their home country.

 

They fall asleep before Mark gets to the good part when he met Renjun, and when he realizes they are no longer listening, he pauses to take a moment to watch the boys. There’s some satisfaction in him knowing he helped out these young boys in some manner by being here for them while their parents couldn’t. He’s glad he falls in pretty well with them—especially when they are 8, 12, and 15 while he’s 19—and he finds himself excited for the next day and what it could bring.

 

When Mark gets back to his dorm at around 11 PM, Donghyuck is still awake and demands details on how the first night went. Mark tells him everything from chucking the book at Yukhei’s head to spending a couple hours editing a song for composition class. The silence in the big house really left room for ideas he didn’t expect and the new scenery helped inspire ideas for his next few projects. Donghyuck seems content with the information and lets Mark prepare for bed with ease.

 

* * *

 

“You chucked an entire fucking book at Yukhei’s _face_?”

 

Mark wishes he could faceplate into his oatmeal and hide from this conversation but Sicheng insists on knowing every detail since Renjun texted him at 4 am asking why Yukhei could possibly be whining about having some cute boy throw a book at his face.

 

“At least I’m cute?” Mark points out, laughing when Sicheng rolls his eyes before sitting down beside Mark for breakfast. “It was an honest mistake.”

 

“Like slapping his ass.” Mark glares into his soupy wheat mush. “You seriously can’t be near Yukhei without assaulting him in some manner, huh?”

 

“He looked like Johnny from behind and I thought he was breaking into the house to steal my kids, what do you expect from me?”

 

“Does he have a nice ass?”

 

Mark gasps and puts a hand to his chest at Johnny’s question. “I don’t know, I don’t stare at people’s asses!”

 

“Well, he has to if from behind he looked like me.”

 

The temptation to fall into middle school antics and chuck a spoonful of mush at Johnny’s face threatens to overrule Mark’s sensibilities.

 

“Anyway, how were the kids?”

 

“Amazing; I don’t think one of them likes me very much but he’s a teenager so what do you expect,” Mark waves a passing hand. “The youngest is adorable but the middle child—I think he’s attached to me already which is cute. I like him. He’s good at drawing.”

 

“Are you going back tonight?”

 

“Yeah, after classes. Another late run tonight and then the day after I’ll be done at 8.”

 

The late run starts late, Mark rushing to get to the house in enough time before the trio’s parents leave. He makes it just in time to not seem like a flake and Chenle is waiting at the door for him with laughter on his tongue. “I thought maybe we had scared you off,” he says as he brings a panting sweaty Mark inside.

 

“I like you guys too much already to be scared off,” Mark replies with a warm chuckle, “but right now, I need to shower because I smell gross so if you guys could get started on your homework and give me like 20 minutes I’ll be right with you to help with the Korean parts.”

 

Jisung speaks up. “Did you bring an extra pair of clothes?”

 

Mark pauses on his way up the stairs at Jisung’s words. _Fuck_. He didn’t bring any extra clothes and he wasn’t even really thinking when he made the shower statement anyway. All he knew was that he smelled terrible and needed to clean up and not kill the kids with his stench from sprinting when he missed the bus. “He can wear Yukhei’s leftover clothes,” Jaemin yells from somewhere downstairs, “It’s not like Yukhei is here to get mad and we won’t tell him either!”

 

Part of Mark questions if Jaemin is telling the truth about not telling Yukhei but he’ll take his chances and pick out something that fits his smaller frame as long as he can get cleaned up.

 

When he returns downstairs dressed in a large sweater that engulfs his arms and rolled up sweats that rest low on his hips, Chenle seems visibly flustered and panicked. Mark suddenly wonders if maybe he’s worn something that means the world to Yukhei and he’s half-tempted to run upstairs and change but Jisung calls for him to help with math and he can’t say no just because of some clothes. While working with Jisung on division, Mark overhears Chenle and Jaemin across the way in the living room chatting between themselves as they work on their homework.

 

“Do you like him?” teases Jaemin as he nudges at Chenle, who blushes furiously as he stares at the half-completed homework sheet in front of him.

 

“N-no, I don’t!”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yes! I’m super sure, Nana; please, can we go back to our homework?”

 

Jaemin shrugs but a smirk lies on his face. “Whatever you say, Lele.”

 

Mark stores that little conversation in the back of his mind for a one-on-one conversation with Chenle, just to comfort him from Jaemin’s questioning. He does find it cute though that the two can so causally talk about a possible crush on a guy, Mark knowing that for himself it took a while for him to even dare say to himself that he was attracted to guys, let alone discuss it so casually with other people. A little smile slips onto his face for the rest of the time he spends helping Jisung with his math and it stays when he goes over to Chenle and Jaemin next to help them with their Korean language homework.

 

Chenle has another drawing to show off for Mark and it’s actually pretty good for his age, which Mark comments on to Chenle’s excitement. “I love when you show me these things.” he says as he pats Chenle’s head. Chenle blushes a little under the attention and it warms Mark’s heart even more. “I can’t draw for my life, I only write music, so I’m always in awe of visual artists.”

 

“You write music?” Jaemin speaks up, raising an eyebrow with curiosity. “What type?”

 

“Hip hop. I rap.”

 

There’s a silence between the two before Chenle and Jaemin fall out into laughter, leaning on each other to control the hysteria that befalls them. Mark frowns and scowls at the ground as the two boys continue to find the fact that Mark raps to be the funniest thing since humankind invented spoken humor. Jisung comes over to ask what’s got his brothers laughing and when Jaemin wheezes out through fits of giggles that Mark raps, Jisung also joins in. Mark grumbles off to the kitchen to get a few snacks as the brothers continue to lose their mind over Mark’s four simple words.

 

They only calm down thanks to the snack food and Chenle apologizes for laughing so much but Mark pays it no mind in the end. He doesn’t really think he looks like a rapper just from his timid and small stature anyway so it doesn’t hurt too much since they’ve only known him for two days now. He’s mostly annoyed they spent an entire 20 minutes laughing rather than the fact they laughed at all. It really doesn’t require 20 minutes of laughter.

 

When the boys calm down and Jisung and Jaemin start chatting between themselves, Mark pulls Chenle aside to ask about the conversation he was having with Jaemin earlier.

 

“Oh,” Chenle blanches and pulls at the hem of his shirt. “I didn’t think you would hear that. I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I disgust you.”

 

“No!” Mark waves his hands frantically. “No, no; of course you don’t! In fact, I admire you for being able to talk so nonchalantly about something like that. I know when I was your age I definitely wasn’t openly talking about guys I like.”

 

“Y-you’re—?” Mark nods and feels a piece of his heart fall into Chenle’s hands when tears fill the younger’s eyes. “I’m sorry I’m crying, this is so stupid but it makes me really happy to know I’m not alone. And that even my babysitter—” The tears start to fall and he wipes at his eyes. “I was so against having a babysitter, we all were, but I’m so happy Mom convinced Dad it would be better than Hei fixing his schedule to come over because then we wouldn’t have gotten you.”

 

Mark pulls Chenle into a hug, feeling the young kid start to cry into Mark’s borrowed sweatshirt. Mark has to struggle not to cry himself, closing his eyes as he slowly rubs at Chenle’s back and helps him calm down. There wasn’t anyone Mark could look up to for acceptance in his early life and he feels terrified but simultaneously proud that he could be that someone for someone else. The money is nice and all but there’s a different type of gratification for spending hours with these kids and Mark is ecstatic to spend even more time and get to know them and watch them grow.

 

“You won’t tell my mom or dad, right? I think they might be mad at me if they ever found out.”

 

Something in Mark’s heart snaps and he ruffles Chenle’s hair with a warm smile to combat the helplessness he feels at Chenle’s latter statement. “I won’t tell them, I promise you that. I won’t tell anyone because it’s something only you should tell others when you want to.”

 

After that emotional moment, Mark finds himself growing closer to Chenle—and Jaemin too into the next week as Chenle had told Jaemin that Mark knew. He grows closer to all of the boys and even decides to skip a party the second week of his babysitting gig so he can wake up early on Saturday and go with the boys over to the park for a fun day out. Donghyuck and Taeyong are slightly disappointed in Mark’s dismissal of the party, but Mark promises to make it out next week so they aren’t too sad in the end.

 

The Saturday picnic is with Mr. and Mrs. Zhong too, though they mostly stand in the background throughout the day as Mark hangs out with the other kids. Jisung for some odd reason had a hoverboard and rides it down the sidewalk as the family and Mark traipse the city. The party of six stop for a picnic near the lake and Chenle and Mark sit together to talk about music. Mark had learned earlier in the week that Chenle plays guitar and they both plan to one day perform a guitar duet if the time allows it. Chenle says he wants to sit at the river and busk with Mark until the sun sets.

 

The sun today though is high in the sky and a vibrant warm presence against Mark’s skin. The sky is a gorgeous pure blue shade above and under these serene conditions Mark can completely forget about anything that’s ever happened in his life. He can forget about school, his advisor suggesting for him to major in composition instead of literature, his friends bugging him about the next party he should attend, Yukhei—

 

“Yukhei!”

 

Yeah, he could almost forget about—wait, _Yukhei?_

 

Mark opens his eyes and rolls over on the blanket spread across the grass, feeling his heart sink as Yukhei is indeed in his line of sight. To be honest though, Mark can’t say his heart exactly sinks in a bad way. It mostly sinks because Yukhei is so goddamn beautiful and there’s something in Mark that feels terrible for finding Yukhei attractive after the huge nuisance he’s been in Yukhei’s life but he can’t help it. Today is the first time Mark has seen Yukhei since he hit him with his theory textbook and he spends a good minute or so analyzing the other man’s fit. Yukhei is dressed in a tank top and shorts, sandals on his feet, chic sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose, and a smile on his perfectly shaped lips.

 

Mark’s mind dares him to think about those lips more so he pulls his eyes away from Yukhei to focus on playing with a blade of grass between his fingers.

 

He turns back when he hears Mrs. Zhong warning Jisung not to lose his hoverboard when Jisung runs up to Yukhei to tackle him with a hug. Jaemin gives Yukhei a long bro hug once he’s out of Jisung’s grip. Chenle, who still sits by Mark on their picnic blanket, doesn’t budge until Yukhei is at his side and only then does he give the taller man a hug.

 

“Hey,” murmurs Yukhei when he breaks from Chenle, who walks over to his brothers to ask for something, Mark doesn’t know what. At the sound of Yukhei’s voice though, Mark looks up and feels common sense leave him again.

 

“You think I’m cute,” he blurts out, breaking eye contact to look back at the wilted grass in his hand.

 

“I didn’t know it was a crime to think so.”  


 

“It’s not,” whispers Mark, feeling his cheeks heat up. “It would be nice to hear first hand though.”

 

Yukhei smiles. “You’re cute.”

 

Mark bites at his lip and glares at the grass, knowing his face is probably as red as a tomato from Yukhei’s way too casual flirting. Chenle comes back and Yukhei shifts his mood so now it looks like Mark is red in the face from self-inflicted asphyxiation than anything else.

 

Yukhei smiles at Chenle and asks, “Mind if I sit with you guys?”

 

“Not at all, Hei!” Chenle squeezes in closer to Mark to make room for Yukhei on the blanket.

 

To Mark and Chenle’s surprise, Yukhei sits on Mark’s other side, but it’s soon evident why once Yukhei starts talking. “So, I hear you know Renjun.”

 

“I know of him more than I actually know him, but I know his cousin.” Mark tosses the grass aside and leans back on his hands as he looks up at the sky. “Sicheng and I are really close; he’s the one who let me know it was you I had greeted instead of our friend.”

 

“Greeted?” Yukhei laughs. “Is that what your friends do? Greet each other with a nice firm slap on the ass?”

 

Mark pouts. “Every friend circle has it’s quirks and that’s ours.”

 

Yukhei laughs and his smile almost outshines the sun. Mark gulps and turns to stare at the blanket under him. “I’m close with Sicheng too by association. Not as close as you and him, but I know that whatever I tell Renjun gets to him eventually. Plus, he comes over about once a week because of Jungwoo.”

 

“Kim Jungwoo?”

 

“Yeah, he’s my roommate,” Yukhei sighs and also leans back on his palms, his hand less than a centimeter away from touching Mark’s. “They’re friends and I don’t know why but they are.”

 

Mark hums in response and they sit in moderate silence. His brain is so focused on the fact that Yukhei could move a finger and touch Mark’s hand that he forgets Chenle is with them until the young boy rests his head on Mark’s shoulder. Startled by the action, Mark readjusts his arms and ends up placing his hand right on Yukhei’s, furiously blushing as he stares out toward the lake and refuses to take a peek at how Yukhei looks. When he feels Yukhei’s hand start to slip from under his, Mark feels some sense of relief but Yukhei is Yukhei and takes Mark’s hand in his in a sly and gentle manner without breaking face.

 

They spend 15 minutes holding hands under a warm fall sky, Chenle asleep on Mark’s shoulder and Yukhei chatting away about something with school. In the back of Mark’s mind, he realizes that they attend the same school but it’s a pale realization to the reality concerning Yukhei’s fingers twining with his.

 

“It’s really weird,” Mark remarks to Donghyuck when he goes back to his dorm for the night, “I accidentally spanked his ass, purposefully threw a book in his face, spend more time with his family than he does, yet he’s flirting with me and holding my hand as if our first two interactions weren’t horrific.”

 

Donghyuck shrugs. “Maybe he’s a masochist.” Mark laughs as he plops onto his bed, hair damp from his shower. “Or maybe he just genuinely finds you attractive and wants to try at it now that he knows he’s not going to be assaulted by looking at you.”

 

Mark doesn’t reply, something caught in his throat at the idea that Yukhei might _like_ him despite the rocky start to their acquaintanceship. He could be reading into things, but he can’t say he’d be upset if Yukhei did want something more between them.

 

* * *

 

“Mark,” Chenle calls when he hears the door to the house open, immediately greeting Mark with a hug and a gentle smile.

 

Mark ruffles his hair and laughs when Chenle swats at his hand, cheeks rosy pink with embarrassment at the affection. “Long time no see, kiddo. I had a few projects to finish up so I couldn’t come by much this week, and then I’m leaving early on Friday.”

 

“That’s okay; Yukhei came over for a bit which was a nice change,” the middle child walks into the kitchen to grab an apple from the pantry. He takes a bite and keeps talking. “He’s really funny and honestly doesn’t offer much help with our Korean homework like you do but he’s still a lot of fun to be around.”

 

Mark reaches over Chenle to grab an apple himself, but Chenle offers his for Mark to take a bite from. Mark takes up the offer and pats Chenle on the head in thanks, heading into the living room to check up on Jisung and Jaemin. Jaemin is on the phone with a friend from school—Jeno seems to be his name based on the conversation—and Jisung is practicing his Hangul handwriting. He spends time working with Chenle on math and literature, only coming to a stop when Yukhei stops by with his brother Kun.

 

“Kun!” Jisung shouts, rushing over to the other man with a happy smile on his lips.

 

Mark makes his way to Yukhei, the first time he’s seen the other man since their picnic not-date-but-also-kind-of-a-date, and smiles when Yukhei greets him with a hug. “I didn’t know you have a brother out here.”  


 

“He still lives in China; He’s here for research on his thesis and is staying over with me and Jungwoo for the weekend.” the taller man rubs at the back of his neck. “I figured I should take him to say hello while he’s here.”

 

“Has he never visited this house?”

 

“No, he has. I just wanted to come along, too.”

 

Mark’s brow crinkles at that statement. Why would Yukhei come over when he was just here the other day and has no reason to come back when he knows Mark will be bac— _oh_. Mark can feel a silly smile worm it’s way onto his lips. “Have you missed me?”

 

Yukhei scoffs but his cheeks are flushed with pink. “No, why would I be?”

 

“I missed you.” Yukhei looks over at Mark —looks _down_ to be accurate — and smirks before reaching a hand out to lightly tap Mark’s ass. It seems to be his way of saying _me too_ without verbally saying it. Mark crosses his ams. “You know we literally attend the same school; why are we always only meeting if it’s when I’m babysitting your cousins?”

 

Yukhei nods solemnly. “Good question, Mark. So, what are we gonna do about it?”

 

The young man leaves before Mark can come up with an adequate response. He can’t tell if Yukhei was prompting Mark to ask him out or something, but he feels like Yukhei does want more and he’s somewhat tempted to try.

 

The kids spend most of their time with Kun before Yukhei takes him back, and then the rest of the night proceeds as usual, though Jaemin is reluctant to get off the phone despite Mark’s protests. There’s no fighting but there is a tense air during dinner and Jaemin goes up to his room to bathe without saying goodnight to anyone. Jisung starts crying about missing his parents while bathing and Mark sits in the bathroom with him to keep him company and remind him that his parents will be back soon. Chenle is silent and non-responsive when Mark tells a bedtime story about learning guitar and when Mark talks about how he wrote a love ballad Chenle suddenly starts crying, too.

 

“Is everything okay?” Mark asks, worry in his voice as the younger boy furiously wipes at his eyes.

 

“It’s fine,” he says even though it’s so obviously not fine. “I’m just tired and I miss my family and China a lot and I wish we could go back but it would mean no more you and I’d miss you.”

 

Mark leans over to tussle Chenle’s dark locks and brush at his cheek in a calming fashion. “Hey, I’m sure your parents are planning a nice big trip out to Shanghai for you all during winter break. You’ll be back in your homeland and I’ll always be here waiting for you guys to return.”

 

Chenle’s eyes widen as he sniffles. “Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“Mark,” the young boy stares at his hands as he pouts. “I want to say something but I don’t know how to say it in Korean so is it okay if I say it in Chinese?”

 

“That’s fine.”

 

Chenle smiles warmly. “ _Wo zhende xihuan ni, Mark_. _Wo yao ni ye xihuan wo dan wo zhidao ni bu neng. Ni xihuan Xuxi, dui ba? Shi dui de._ ”

 

The only thing Mark truly understands is his name. He thinks Chenle is saying he’s very grateful for him, so he smiles and wishes Chenle a good night before going downstairs where he immediately texts Sicheng. One great thing about being a musician is that he has a great memory, so he’s able to at least approximate what Chenle said in text to send for a translation. Mark’s about to press the send button when he stops himself. He has no right to share what it was Chenle told him to other people, even for a translation. If Chenle really needed Mark to hear it, he would have said it in Korean, so it had to be something for himself given he knows Mark doesn’t really understand much Chinese. It’s an absolutely invasion of privacy after Mark promised to keep things between him and Chenle.

 

Curiosity burns within him but he figures once Chenle has found the words to say it in Korean, he will in his own time. Mark deletes the text and simply sends Sicheng a question about the dress code for the party on Friday.

 

The party itself isn’t very exciting for Mark. He’s on edge because of a midterm and Yukhei and Chenle and Jaemin’s attitudes and a host of things not even Johnny’s antics can derail him from thinking about. He wishes he could spend more time having fun, but he finds himself on the balcony of Ten’s house nursing his third beer while standing alone in a coldness caused by the soon approaching winter. He feels someone tap his ass and figures it’s Taeyong by the gentle contact, ready to beg the older man to leave him alone for just one minute longer, but when he turns and greets Yukhei, he wishes he had it in him to yell.

 

Yukhei doesn’t say anything and maybe it’s because of the grim look in Mark’s eyes. Mark doesn’t know, but he’s grateful that the other man says nothing and simply stands at his side, shoulders touching as Seoul bustles through another night. Yukhei sips at his glass as Mark downs the rest of his beer can, placing it down on the table next to the other two empty cans he’ll have to remember to toss out before leaving. The silence lasts a little longer before Yukhei can’t hold his thoughts in.

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

Mark turns with wide eyes and parted lips, not even realizing he has said yes until the taste of the word is already off his tongue and the taste of Yukhei soon replaces it.

 

It’s a good kiss. A hungry kiss, a needy kiss. A sloppy kiss, too; Mark isn’t quite sure what to do with his tongue when his knees are going weak and his head is spinning from alcohol and the scent of Yukhei’s cologne. He feels good inside, slipping onto the table and knocking over the cans as he pulls Yukhei with him because his knees can’t take on the challenge poised by standing but not kissing Yukhei seems like a bigger loss at the moment. Yukhei’s hand is at his ass in an entirely different way and Mark’s tipsy brain wonders how far they would go out here on the balcony. How much of their attraction are they willing to dive into as the wind seems to push them closer together to stay warm in the night?

 

They don’t go much further, the wind getting too harsh when Yukhei squeezes at Mark’s ass and the two pull away from each other as if that gust of wind has shocked them out of the lust hazed stupor they fell into on the balcony. Mark skirts away first, grabbing his cans from off the floor before quickly climbing to his toes so he can lean in to kiss Yukhei one last time before he leaves. His lips are tingling still when he finds his friends and lets them know he’s taking an Uber home, Doyoung and Jaehyun wishing him well and to stay safe in the process given his hands are trembling just the tiniest bit. Back at his dorm, Donghyuck is fast asleep and Mark sits in the darkness for a little bit, replaying the make out session he had with Yukhei in his head over and over again until he falls asleep from thinking too much.

 

After the weekend passes and Mark returns to the Zhong’s residence, Jaemin seems to be in a better mood, which makes Jisung happier, too. There’s still a somber air about Mark that he tries to hide and succeeds at hiding for the most part. The Zhong parents come back home earlier than expected and ask Mark to stay for dinner. He’s not really in the mood for communication with anyone but he feels bad saying no so he stays. The food is really good and the company is sweet as always but he quickly makes an excuse to say goodnight when he feels like randomly crying for reasons he can’t explain.

 

The melancholy mood swamps Mark’s daily life as he starts pulling back on babysitting duties to focus on schoolwork. It doesn’t really help much given he can barely concentrate on his end of the semester projects as his mind keeps bringing up Yukhei and the kids. Jaehyun and Taeyong notice Mark’s mood deteriorating and attempt to cheer him up by coming over to binge a lot of _Adventure Time_ but Mark doesn’t feel much better.

 

Mark isn’t even entirely sure why he’s so down but when he starts crying over his mushy oatmeal because Sicheng casually brings up Renjun in conversation, his entire friend circle gets concerned.

 

“Did you break up with someone we didn’t know about?” asks Doyoung with curiosity in his voice.

 

“I don’t know,” mumbles Mark as he wipes at his runny nose. “I don’t know what happened, I don’t know why I feel so bad for kissing him. We both really wanted it.”

 

“Who is we?”

 

“Me and Yukhei.”

 

Taeyong perks. “You feel bad for kissing the cousin of the kid’s you’re babysitting?” Mark nods and slouches in his seat. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

 

“I feel like I’m going behind everyone’s backs with it. The entire family.” Mark rubs at his tired dreary face. “The only one who knows I’m gay is Chenle and I don’t even know if they know Yukhei is into guys, too. I feel bad having this secret kept from them. They tell me everything, they trust me so much.”

 

“Then tell the other two about yourself.” says Jaehyun. “If the other two kids change how they feel about you just because of that one fact, then it’s not worth being a babysitter there anymore. Yukhei can tell them on his own time, if they don’t already know.”

 

So, that night during a long awaited dinner Mark tells the other two boys that since it’s been a good couple months of getting to know each other he should let them know before they go into the new year that he’s gay. Jaemin and Jisung are completely unperturbed and simply thank Mark for being honest with them. “We really don’t care,” laughs Jaemin as he smiles into his cup of water. “You’re still Mark, our favorite Mark. It doesn’t change a thing.”

 

That seems to be the biggest issue plaguing Mark as he immediately feels relief knowing that the boys all know he’s _himself_ and that he doesn’t feel like he’s hiding anything he shouldn’t. Chenle shares a smile with him from across the table and it feels like everything is going to be alright between him and the kids for the rest of the year and into next year, if the Zhong’s will still have him. They play more dancing games after dinner until bedtime and Mark stays up working on a new song inspired by the emotions coursing through him by being accepted by these kids.

 

Yukhei comes over during the night, surprised to see Mark after he’s been gone for a few weeks. They sit in silence side by side in the dark until Yukhei falls asleep, resting his head on Mark’s shoulder. Mark smiles to himself and leans in to kiss the top of Yukhei’s head, murmuring an unheard _thank you_ into the night for letting this night be the one he has everyone back again. It wasn’t as if they had left, _he_ was the one who left, but he’s still all so grateful that he’s easily accepted into the family again. As he twines his fingers with Yukhei’s and starts to fall asleep as well, he thinks about how much he cares about what part of this family he knows and how grateful he is to Sicheng for telling him about it.

 

Mark returns to his dorm in the morning, neck sore from sleeping awkwardly on the couch and still blushing a bit at waking up to Mr. Zhong telling him he should get going for school. He didn’t mean to stay asleep and he definitely expected the Zhong’s to wake him up and send him back to his place, but most of all he woke up cuddling Yukhei on the couch and he can’t help but wonder how Mr. and Mrs. Zhong interpreted that. Yukhei—who had gotten Mark’s number before Mark went back to his place—sends a good morning text and says that he’ll greet Mark at the coffee shop down the street from Mark’s dorm for breakfast in a few minutes.

 

None of Mark’s friends are upset at Mark’s text to group chat to let them know that he isn’t coming to breakfast because he has a date with Yukhei.

 

“I wanna tell my uncle,” starts Yukhei as he takes a bite from his buttered toast. Mark slows his rapid inhalation of coffee and backtracks.

 

“You want to tell Mr. Zhong what exactly?”

 

“That I’m bi,” he shrugs so casually Mark is jealous of his demeanor. “I’m a little scared because I have no idea how they will react. This morning though—when they let you sleep in and he woke us up with no qualms—makes me think it’ll go over okay.”

 

“When you tell him,” Mark starts, staring into his cup, “will you tell him about us?”

 

“Is there an us?”

 

Mark looks up and maintains eye contact as he speaks. “Yes.” Yukhei smiles and takes one of Mark’s hands in his. Somehow this gives Mark the confidence to say more. “I want to tell the kids about it, too. I want them to know we’re dating. They already know I’m gay.”

 

“They know I’m bi so that’s something we can check off the bucket list.”

 

When Mark and Yukhei tell the kids after walking over to the house together, no one is really surprised. The only one who doesn’t really say anything is Chenle, which Mark would be willing to ignore except for the fact that he’s closest with Chenle and he wants to make sure Chenle is comfortable with this news. 

  
“I’m happy for you two,” he tells Mark after dinner when they have time to be alone while Yukhei works with the other two kids. “I really am. I just—”

 

“You just what?”

 

“It’s nothing.” Chenle laughs his dolphin-esque laugh and smiles though it all seems watered down. “Come help me with my literature homework though, there’s an analysis question I don’t quite get.”

 

Mark feels like he should say something more but he doesn’t want to push Chenle any further and figures the distraction brought forth by homework will be good enough.

 

(The Zhong parents are also very happy for Yukhei, bringing Yukhei to tears until he’s shaking and sobbing in Mark’s arms though Mark can’t help much when he’s crying his eyes out, too.)

 

The end of the semester comes sooner than expected though the dates are the same as they were at the start, time just moves by faster with Yukhei at his side. Sicheng and the Zhong family go out to China for winter break leaving Mark with his friend circle and roommate, just as they were at the beginning. They hang out amongst themselves, going to a winter holiday festival where Johnny teases Mark about slapping random people’s asses. They spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve together, spending the latter watching a video Yukhei sent showing the Zhong family (Yukhei included), Sicheng, and Renjun celebrating the new year out in China already.

 

For accidentally slapping a stranger’s ass, Mark thinks as Jaemin, Chenle, Jisung, and Yukhei yell _I miss you_ in the video, the people he’s got to meet and love because of it definitely makes up for the embarrassment of the initial incident.

 

**Author's Note:**

> translation of chenle's message to mark: I really like you, Mark. I want you to like me, too but I know you can't. You like Xuxi, right? You do.


End file.
